CV needs to create more jobs to achieve employment target

CEBU, Philippines -  Employment rate in Central Visayas registered a 92.9 percent growth in July of this year, a slight improvement from the 92.5 percent it achieved in January, record from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) revealed.

The employment rate in July 2012 however, was lower than the 93.7 percent employment rate recorded in the same month of last year.

Because of this, NEDA said that there is a need for the region to work harder in generating employment in the succeeding quarters in order to achieve the plan target of an employment rate in 2012 to reach at least 93.5 percent.

Compared to the national averages, the employment rate of the region in January 2012, April 2012 and July 2012 were slightly lower.

In the January, April and July 2012 surveys of the labor force, the average employment rates of the country were 92.8 percent, 93.1 percent, and 93.0 percent, respectively. The region posted employment rates during the said months of 92.5 percent, 92.8 percent, and 92.9 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, underemployment in the region remains a challenge. Although, the proportion of underemployed workers to the total number of employed workers in the region decreased in July 2012 to hover at 21.4 percent from 22.4 percent in April of this year.

“It (underemployment) is high at more than 20 percent  than the January 2012 rate of 20.5 percent,” NEDA reported.

Last year’s July underemployment rate of 18.8 percent was in fact better than the July 2012 rate.

Compared to the national underemployment rate, Central Visayas’ rate has been on an upward trend since July 2010.

The region’s rate has been higher than the national for the last four surveys of the labor force. While the country’s underemployment rate remained below 20 percent, the region’s rate continued to hover above 20 percent since October 2011.

On the other hand, NEDA-7  said the growth prospect of the regional economy continues to be upbeat and is foreseen to be anchored by the following top performing industries: IT/ BPO and Knowledge Process Outsourcing, tourism, real estate development, and retail trade.

The export industry, which used to be one of the growth drivers of the regional economy, is expected to continue to recover for the rest of the year and to turn in a stronger performance by year end as it takes advantage of an anticipated market recovery and opportunities from new markets in Asia.

Based on preliminary indicators, the regional economy grew faster in the first six months of 2012 vis-a-vis the same period last year. 

As expected, the region’s major industries led by tourism, the business process outsourcing industry, and construction/real estate, led the growth of the regional economy during the period, posting above average performances.

A better performance of the export industry in the first semester also helped boost growth of the regional economy after a dismal performance in 2011. 

Agriculture, meanwhile, was unable to sustain the growth it achieved last year as total production fell.   (FREEMAN)